By Richard Thomas Rating: A- Introduced in 2014, Bomberger’s Declaration from Michter’s has become a fixture of late summer’s annualized releases. Although this expression and its sibling, Shenk’s, do not (yet) have the same buzz attached as either Michter’s other limited editions (such as Barrel Strength Rye or the 10 Year Old Single Barrels) or …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- In September 2025, Heaven Hill returned to its historic roots in Bardstown, Kentucky in grand style. Although the company never left Bardstown after the disaster of the 1996 fire that destroyed their distillery, the locus of Heaven Hill operations clearly shifted to Shively after the purchase of the Bernheim Distillery. …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A Bladnoch Distillery’s 30 Year Old single malt was unveiled in 2022. Many Americans do not know the distiller, which nonetheless has a long rich history. Bladnoch is part of the Lowlands Whisky Region, home to other well-known distilleries which include Auchentoshan, Girvan and Glenkinchie; and newer lesser well-known distilleries …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- To a bourbon fan, end of summer means more than more pleasant weather and the disappearance of mosquitoes. Autumn brings with it the annual limited edition release season, when all the most ardently sought, annualized whiskeys come out. Every year for the last eighteen years, the end of summer marked …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- This is one of those whiskeys that I feel should need no introduction or summary, but that said: it is among my personal favorites, one of the expressions I point to as being undoubtedly worth the (official) asking price. I’ll start with the mash bill. At a time when the …
By Douglas Fraser Rating: A- Nestled at the southern point of Loch Lomond is the Loch Lomond Distillery, known for producing its own line of Single Malt Whiskies as well as whiskies made for blending by other Scotch Whisky producers. The distillery prides itself on its unique distillation process, which crafts exceptional whiskies. The roots …
By Randall H. Borkus Rating: A In late March 2025, Michter’s Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson approved the release of Michter’s 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon. “Rather than on a strict age schedule, at Michter’s we bottle whiskey when our production team deems it fully matured. This continues the standards …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- During the 2010s, Utah’s High West made a splash with whiskey nerds for their transparency. Although they were a negociant (or non-distiller producer, as bloggers who didn’t know there was a better term already in use in whisky circles preferred to call such a company), they had two characteristics that set …
By Richard Thomas Rating: A- As it has been years since I last wrote about the brand, a brief background summary of Lock, Stock and Barrel is called for. The brand is owned by Cooper Spirits, a company founded in 2006. Cooper Spirits is an independent bottler, reliant upon sourced spirits, but knowing their foundation …
By Kurt Maitland Rating: A Old Forester is a well known (one could safely say iconic) brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whisky produced by the Brown–Forman Corporation. It was the first bourbon sold exclusively in sealed bottles, first bottled and marketed in 1870 by the former pharmaceutical salesman turned bourbon-merchant prince, George Garvin Brown. The …
